TOP ISSUE AREAS

The lobbying disclosure forms lobbyists file with the House and Senate have a section that requires lobbyists to list the subjects on which they are lobbying. The House and Senate have developed 76 "issue area codes" that are used to identify the general issue on which lobbying occurs. Registrants must identify the names of each individual lobbyist working on each issue area. Ranging from accounting to welfare, the issue area codes are the most consistent indicator of what the hot-button issues were in 1999.

The table below contains the number of individual lobbyists, clients, and registrants that lobbied on each issue area code. Not surprisingly, tax policy was the biggest issue, with nearly a quarter of Washington’s 12,113 active lobbyists attempting to weigh in on some aspect of the tax code. Similarly, 1,053 of 3,587 registrants lobbied on tax issues. However, the budget was the issue in which the highest number of clients were interested; 1,800 of 8,145 active clients lobbied on appropriations or the budget.

Note that many lobbyists, clients, and registrants lobby on more than one issue. Therefore, the sum of the lobbyists column is far higher than the 12,113 lobbyists who were active in 1999.

Rank

Issue Code

Issue Name

Lobbyists

Clients

Registrants

1

TAX

Taxation/Internal Revenue Code

2,945

1,411

1,053

2

BUD

Budget/Appropriations

2,689

1,800

880

3

HCR

Health Issues

2,444

1,137

853

4

TRD

Trade (Domestic & Foreign)

2,047

824

682

5

ENV

Enviromental/Superfund

1,878

865

655

6

DEF

Defense

1,358

921

505

7

MMM

Medicare/Medicaid

1,332

666

422

8

TRA

Transportation

1,266

810

491

9

TEC

Telecommunications

1,247

414

394

10

LBR

Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace

1,234

484

478

11

GOV

Government Issues

1,105

484

402

12

ENG

Energy/Nuclear

1,013

468

383

13

EDU

Education

1,008

505

377

14

BAN

Banking

890

379

316

15

FIN

Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities

770

294

283

16

CPT

Copyright/Patent/Trademark

755

298

290

17

CAW

Clean Air & Water (Quality)

754

360

293

18

AGR

Agriculture

733

434

321

19

AVI

Aviation/Aircraft/Airlines

727

291

237

20

UTI

Utilities

702

265

272

21

NAT

Natural Resources

689

387

246

22

CPI

Computer Industry

642

209

200

23

FOR

Foreign Relations

631

265

215

24

LAW

Law Enforcement/Crime/Criminal Justice

617

273

228

25

BNK

Bankruptcy

593

183

197

26

SCI

Science/Technology

592

307

262

27

INS

Insurance

572

212

213

28

COM

Communications/Broadcasting/Radio/TV

563

222

197

29

CSP

Consumer Issues/Safety/Protection

523

205

191

30

MED

Medical/Disease Research/Clinical Labs

523

240

181

31

HOU

Housing

513

224

175

32

IMM

Immigration

499

220

195

33

WAS

Waste (hazardous/solid/interstate/nuclear)

456

203

191

34

FOO

Food Industry (Safety, Labeling, etc.)

440

168

152

35

MAR

Marine/Maritime/Boating/Fisheries

429

242

175

36

RET

Retirement

403

142

147

37

FUE

Fuel/Gas/Oil

400

140

132

38

TOB

Tobacco

367

96

131

39

SMB

Small Business

353

122

122

40

ECN

Economics/Economic Development

341

217

133

41

PHA

Pharmacy

333

105

108

42

RES

Real Estate/Land Use/Conservation

333

159

116

43

RRR

Railroads

323

100

131

44

IND

Indian/Native American Affairs

305

197

111

45

POS

Postal

287

86

105

46

CIV

Civil Rights/Civil Liberties

273

94

93

47

TOR

Torts

260

100

107

48

DIS

Disaster Planning/Emergencies

228

104

95

49

AER

Aerospace

223

92

83

50

ROD

Roads/Highway

215

110

84

51

ALC

Alcohol & Drug Abuse

205

72

68

52

WEL

Welfare

205

108

90

53

VET

Veterans

203

74

68

54

ART

Arts/Entertainment

201

99

71

55

MAN

Manufacturing

200

126

113

56

AUT

Automotive Industry

197

65

80

57

GAM

Gaming/Gambling/Casino

196

90

76

58

FAM

Family Issues/Abortion/Adoption

194

65

68

59

CHM

Chemicals/Chemical Industry

179

71

75

60

URB

Urban Development/Municipalities

177

120

76

61

TRU

Trucking/Shipping

155

60

63

62

CON

Constitution

141

49

53

63

ANI

Animals

134

58

55

64

BEV

Beverage Industry

125

30

47

65

FIR

Firearms/Guns/Ammunition

114

46

43

66

TOU

Travel/Tourism

101

49

40

67

ADV

Advertising

91

36

30

68

APP

Apparel/Clothing Industry/Textiles

75

41

34

69

MIA

Media (Information/Publishing)

67

30

27

70

MON

Minting/Money/Gold Standard

58

27

27

71

CDT

Commodities (Big Ticket)

55

19

17

72

REL

Religion

54

18

18

73

SPO

Sports/Athletics

52

30

28

74

DOC

District of Columbia

51

20

20

75

ACC

Accounting

38

17

15

76

UNM

Unemployment

16

10

10

Total

Unique Lobbyists, Clients, or Registrants

12,113

8,145

3,587

Note: Lobbying figures are for calendar year 1999; campaign contributions figures are for the 1999-2000 election cycle and reflect data released by the Federal Election Commission by April 1, 2001.

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